Painting in the Hidden Valley

Had a nice paint out today with John Crump and his grandson Sam. The weather was not the best - mostly grey and cold but by inventing a little light in the foreground of my painting I was able to use the moody landscape to my advantage. Having nearly finished the painting we were greeted by 5 women on horseback who'd snuck up ever so quietly to have a look at the paintings (amazing how you can zone out when you're in the middle of a painting). As they rode off I dabbed a couple of them into the painting. So nice when you're provided with bonus content on the spot - you don't get that so much with photographing a spot because you don't get to stand there for so long.

Thanks for this, Richard. I've added inventing light to the skills set I need to work on to get better. When I joined The Complete Artist a week ago I had seven items on that list. Now I have eleven. Guess that's progress.

This is beautiful and an excellent example of "inventing." If I tried this scene, you'd see a couple of white lines in a bed of dull green grass and a giant dark blue "W" in the background. Richard, you can "invent" beauty better than anyone I have ever seen. Who'd a thunk to put that bright light in the near foreground, in the mid-background (on that water), as well as on the distant peaks?